U.S. Women Ready to Face Germany in 2010 Algarve Cup Final

WNTMar 2, 2010

U.S. Women’s National Team 2010 Algarve Cup Notes The Algarve, Portugal Tuesday, March 2

USA AND GERMANY TO MEET IN 2010 ALGARVE CUP FINAL: The U.S. Women’s National Team is set for its unprecedented eighth consecutive Algarve Cup title game, where it will take on Germany on Wednesday, March 3 in Faro at the fabulous Estadio Algarve, built for the 2004 European Championships. The championship game is set for 4 p.m. local / 11 a.m. ET and fans can follow live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. No other country has made more than three consecutive finals as Norway played in the 1996, 1997 and 1998 title matches, but the USA has more than doubled that total. Still, in the championship game awaits a truly great German side that has demolished the competition so far during the Algarve Cup, scoring 16 goals, the most ever in group play during the tournament’s 17-year history. The USA has dealt with less than ideal field conditions due to the heavy rains that have hit the Algarve region, but the reward for making the championship is a large, flat and hopefully somewhat dry playing surface at Estadio Algarve. Germany will have the advantage of playing its final group match at Estadio Algarve, but the spectacular venue is a fitting place for the world’s top-two ranked teams to meet with a tournament championship on the line. For complete Algarve Cup results and standings, as well as links to other U.S. content, visit ussoccer.com’s Algarve Cup competition page.

GROUP A RECAP: Germany once again had little trouble, as its final group match against China was seemingly over after 15 minutes. Germany scored in the second, 15th and 42nd minutes to make it 3-0 by halftime. Germany made three subs at halftime and three more in the 65th minute, but China rarely crossed midfield in the second half. In the other Group A finale, Denmark picked up its first win of the tournament, 2-1, against Finland on goals from Lise Munk and Nadia Nadim. Finland’s goal was scored by Sky Blue FC forward Laura Kalmari. The win wasn’t enough to move Denmark past China into second place in the group so the Danes will play for fifth place against Norway.

GROUP B RECAP: In the other Group B match, Norway edged Iceland 3-2 on two goals from FC Gold Pride midfielder Solveig Gulbrandsen and one from Lise Marie Woods. Norway also scored an own goal for Iceland in the 90th minute, making the final score a bit closer than play reflected.

GROUP C RECAP: In Group C, Portugal beat Austria 2-1 and Romania beat Faroe Islands 5-1 which amazingly tied Portugal and Romania atop the group on points, goal difference and goals scored. Seeing as Portugal and Romania also tied the match between them 0-0 the teams had to draw lots to see who finished first in the group. Portugal lost the draw and will play Iceland for ninth place. Romania will face Finland for seventh. The big news out of Group C is that Faroe Islands scored its first and only goal of the tournament, momentarily making Olga Hansen the biggest name in Faroe Islands women’s soccer.

USA vs. Germany Fast Facts: Germany’s roster for the Algarve Cup is almost the same one that faced the USA last October in Augsburg, with the notable addition of Bayern Munich midfielder Melanie Berhinger who was injured during the match last fall … Germany has averaged more than five goals a game this tournament … Germany’s roster is stocked with players who rolled to the 2008 UEFA Women’s Championship, defeating England 6-2 in the final … The USA’s 17-4-4 record against Germany includes two wins against the former West Germany, coming in 1988 and 1990 … Since 2000, the USA is 7-1-3 against Germany … The United States is the only country in the world with an all-time winning record against the Germans … Shannon Boxx is the only player on the U.S. roster who has experience playing in Germany, doing a stint with Saarbrucken in 1999-00 … Germany’s most recent victory against the USA that was not after penalty kicks came in the semifinal of the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a 3-0 triumph in Portland, Ore. … Since then, the USA has won three games and the teams have tied two games, although Germany did triumph in the penalty kick shootout in the 2006 Algarve Cup final after the 0-0 draw through regulation … Germany’s Birgit Prinz is the third all-time scorer in women’s soccer history with 126 goals, just three short of Kristine Lilly … Prinz is also Germany’s all-time leading scorer at the Algarve Cup with eight goals … Euro 2009 star Inka Grings has scored 55 goals in her international career and she is Germany’s leading scorer at the 2010 Algarve Cup with five goals … Ten different German players have scored a goal at this tournament … Only two players have scored for the USA, Abby Wambach (two goals) and Lauren Cheney (three goals) … 15 of the 16 field players on the U.S. roster have seen time in the tournament, excluding Megan Rapinoe, who picked up a quad injury in the first couple days in Portugal and has not been able to play … Rachel Buehler and Abby Wambach are the only two players who have played all 270 minutes so far … Lori Linsdey has recorded an assist in each of the three games.

SUNDHAGE AND NEID MEET AGAIN: The international playing careers of U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage and Germany head coach Silvia Neid ran somewhat parallel courses with the Swedish international and German international crossing paths on more than several occasions. None was bigger than in first round play at the 2005 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Sweden. In its first game of the tournament, Sweden had been upset, 1-0, by Brazil and was on the verge of elimination in its own country when it fell behind Germany 2-0 after 42 minutes. The Swedes mounted a furious comeback in the second half, scoring three times, including an 80th minute penalty from Sundhage that tied the score. Malin Andersson scored the dramatic winner in the 86th minute. Both Sundhage and Neid played the entire 90 minutes. Both teams would eventually advance out of the group, but Sweden fell in the quarterfinal to China in penalties and the Germans advanced to the championship with consecutive wins against England and China, only to fall to Norway 2-0 in the title game. Sundhage and Neid both played in the 2006 Olympics, which marked the final international matches for both players, who then launched what have become extremely successful coaching careers. Neid’s 48 goals are still fifth in Germany history while Sundhage’s 71 are second in Swedish history.

VIDEO ALGARVE: Check out all_access video on ussoccer.com to see highlights of the USA’s three wins as well as a some unique videos that include a piece on the GPS trackers the U.S. players wear during training and games, a excellent one-on-one interview with Abby Wambach and a look inside the game day of Heather O’Reilly.

ALGARVE FINAL, THEN WPS TRAINING CAMPS: After the Algarve Cup Final, all the U.S. players will head back to the United States and almost immediately join their pre-season training camps for the second season of WPS. Last year, only six players on the USA’s Algarve Cup roster had played professional club soccer before. This year, 17 players participated in the first WPS season, while Lauren Cheney and Casey Nogueira will be entering their rookie campaigns. The USA’s Algarve Cup roster is spread out over seven of the eight WPS clubs. Most of the U.S. players will get a few days to rest as they will not have to report until next Sunday. The WPS season opens on the weekend of April 10 and 11 as the Washington Freedom host the Boston Breakers, Saint Louis Athletica host the revamped FC Gold Pride, the expansion Philadelphia Independence host the expansion Atlanta Beat and WPS champion Sky Blue FC hosts the Chicago Red Stars.

Stat of NoteThe U.S. team has scored two goals in each of its three Algarve Cup games so far. In the six Algarve Cup titles that the USA has won, the team has averaged exactly two goals per game.